diff --git a/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-2311.section.md b/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-2311.section.md
index 82dbe187d957..24aaf9d79ebb 100644
--- a/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-2311.section.md
+++ b/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-2311.section.md
@@ -242,6 +242,8 @@
 Unfortunately all servers supporting new clients (newer version of anki-sync-server, anki's built in sync server and this new rust package) do not support the older sync protocol that was used in the old server, so such old clients will also need updating and in particular the anki package in nixpkgs is also being updated in this release.
 The module update takes care of the new config syntax and the data itself (user login and cards) are compatible, so users of the module will be able to just log in again after updating both client and server without any extra action.
 
+- `services.matrix-synapse` has new options to configure worker processes for matrix-synapse using `services.matrix-synapse.workers.enable` and `services.matrix-synapse.workers.config`. It's also now possible to configure a local redis server using `services.matrix-synapse.configureRedisLocally`.
+
 - `services.nginx` gained a `defaultListen` option at server-level with support for PROXY protocol listeners, also `proxyProtocol` is now exposed in `services.nginx.virtualHosts.<name>.listen` option. It is now possible to run PROXY listeners and non-PROXY listeners at a server-level, see [#213510](https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/pull/213510/) for more details.
 
 - `services.restic.backups` now adds wrapper scripts to your system path, which set the same environment variables as the service, so restic operations can easly be run from the command line. This behavior can be disabled by setting `createWrapper` to `false`, per backup configuration.
diff --git a/nixos/modules/services/matrix/synapse.nix b/nixos/modules/services/matrix/synapse.nix
index 60ad1fa42bc7..b7591f984730 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/services/matrix/synapse.nix
+++ b/nixos/modules/services/matrix/synapse.nix
@@ -10,13 +10,10 @@ let
   finalSettings = lib.filterAttrsRecursive (_: v: v != null) cfg.settings;
   configFile = format.generate "homeserver.yaml" finalSettings;
 
-  pluginsEnv = cfg.package.python.buildEnv.override {
-    extraLibs = cfg.plugins;
-  };
-
   usePostgresql = cfg.settings.database.name == "psycopg2";
   hasLocalPostgresDB = let args = cfg.settings.database.args; in
     usePostgresql && (!(args ? host) || (elem args.host [ "localhost" "127.0.0.1" "::1" ]));
+  hasWorkers = cfg.workers.enable && (cfg.workers.config != { });
 
   registerNewMatrixUser =
     let
@@ -758,6 +755,45 @@ in {
         };
       };
 
+      workers = lib.mkOption {
+        default = { };
+        description = lib.mdDoc ''
+          Options for configuring workers. See `services.matrix-synapse.workers.enable`
+          for a more detailed description.
+        '';
+        type = types.submodule {
+          options = {
+            enable = lib.mkOption {
+              type = types.bool;
+              default = false;
+              description = lib.mdDoc ''
+                Whether to enable matrix synapse workers
+              '';
+            };
+            config = lib.mkOption {
+              type = types.attrsOf (types.submodule {
+                freeformType = format.type;
+                options = {
+                  worker_listeners = lib.mkOption {
+                    default = [ ];
+                    type = types.listOf listenerType;
+                    description = lib.mdDoc ''
+                      List of ports that this worker should listen on, their purpose and their configuration.
+                    '';
+                  };
+                };
+              });
+              default = { };
+              description = lib.mdDoc ''
+                List of workers to configure. See the
+                [worker documention](https://matrix-org.github.io/synapse/latest/workers.html#worker-configuration)
+                for possible values.
+              '';
+            };
+          };
+        };
+      };
+
       extraConfigFiles = mkOption {
         type = types.listOf types.path;
         default = [ ];
@@ -800,6 +836,13 @@ in {
           For further information about this update, please read the release-notes of 20.03 carefully.
         '';
       }
+      {
+        assertion = hasWorkers -> cfg.settings.redis.enabled;
+        message = ''
+          Workers for matrix-synapse require configuring a redis instance. This can be done
+          automatically by setting `services.matrix-synapse.configureRedisLocally = true`.
+        '';
+      }
     ];
 
     services.matrix-synapse.settings.redis = lib.mkIf cfg.configureRedisLocally {
@@ -825,11 +868,26 @@ in {
       gid = config.ids.gids.matrix-synapse;
     };
 
+    systemd.targets.matrix-synapse = lib.mkIf hasWorkers {
+      description = "Synapse Matrix parent target";
+      after = [ "network.target" ] ++ optional hasLocalPostgresDB "postgresql.service";
+      wantedBy = [ "multi-user.target" ];
+    };
+
     systemd.services =
       let
+        targetConfig =
+          if hasWorkers
+          then {
+            partOf = [ "matrix-synapse.target" ];
+            wantedBy = [ "matrix-synapse.target" ];
+            unitConfig.ReloadPropagatedFrom = "matrix-synapse.target";
+          }
+          else {
+            after = [ "network.target" ] ++ optional hasLocalPostgresDB "postgresql.service";
+            wantedBy = [ "multi-user.target" ];
+          };
         baseServiceConfig = {
-          after = [ "network.target" ] ++ optional hasLocalPostgresDB "postgresql.service";
-          wantedBy = [ "multi-user.target" ];
           environment = optionalAttrs (cfg.withJemalloc) {
             LD_PRELOAD = "${pkgs.jemalloc}/lib/libjemalloc.so";
           };
@@ -869,7 +927,31 @@ in {
             SystemCallArchitectures = "native";
             SystemCallFilter = [ "@system-service" "~@resources" "~@privileged" ];
           };
-        };
+        }
+        // targetConfig;
+        genWorkerService = name: workerCfg:
+          let
+            finalWorkerCfg = workerCfg // { worker_name = name; };
+            workerConfigFile = format.generate "worker-${name}.yaml" finalWorkerCfg;
+          in
+          {
+            name = "matrix-synapse-worker-${name}";
+            value = lib.mkMerge [
+              baseServiceConfig
+              {
+                description = "Synapse Matrix worker ${name}";
+                # make sure the main process starts first for potential database migrations
+                after = [ "matrix-synapse.service" ];
+                serviceConfig = {
+                  ExecStart = ''
+                    ${cfg.package}/bin/synapse_worker \
+                      ${ concatMapStringsSep "\n  " (x: "--config-path ${x} \\") ([ configFile workerConfigFile ] ++ cfg.extraConfigFiles) }
+                      --keys-directory ${cfg.dataDir}
+                  '';
+                };
+              }
+            ];
+          };
       in
       {
         matrix-synapse = lib.mkMerge [
@@ -897,7 +979,8 @@ in {
             };
           }
         ];
-      };
+      }
+      // (lib.mapAttrs' genWorkerService cfg.workers.config);
 
     services.redis.servers.matrix-synapse = lib.mkIf cfg.configureRedisLocally {
       enable = true;